Poem:general rating: Legacies

[debriswoman]

Title: Legacies
Rating: general
Word count: 151
Form: poem
Characters: Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson
Notes: retrospective response to the January prompt, previously posted on ffnet. Pattern inspired by John Masefield.



Legacies

~0~

Battle weary soldier on a half pay pension,

Limping into London from a far flung land;

With a legacy of fever,

Bullet wounds and nightmares.

Haunted by the havoc of a brave last stand.

~0~

Solitary student in a scorch marked lab coat,

Staring down a microscope for long, lone days;

With a legacy of logic,

Science and deduction;

Blithely unaware of his eccentric ways.

~0~

Battle weary soldier takes a walk through London,

Meeting an acquaintance from the wards long past;

Promise of a flat share,

Cheap accomodation;

Restful, ordered residence and peace at last.

~0~

Solitary student stuck in dismal quarters,

Hoping to afford a more inviting place;

Promise of the rent halved;

Quiet fellow lodger,

Room to greet the clients who begin each case

~0~

Solitary student faces weary soldier,

Knowing he has suffered in the Empire's name;

Promises are altered,

Legacies confounded;

Neither life, of course, will ever be the same.

~0~